Page:China- Its State and Prospects.djvu/224

198 The doctors of Eternal Reason speak of it in a most rapturous strain. They say—

The founder of the Taou sect, called Laou-tsze, "the venerable philosopher," and Laou-keun, "the venerable prince," though coeval with Confucius, is said to have existed from eternity, and to him they ascribe the creation of the world, as in the following paragraph:—

"The venerable prince, the origin of primary matter, the root of heaven and earth, the occupier of infinite space, the commencement and beginning of all things, farther back than the utmost stretch of numbers can reach, created the universe."

One of the fabled incarnations of Laou-keun is thus described:—"The venerable prince existed before the creation, but was incarnate in the time Yang-këă, of